Alireza Khatami, Aysen Sumercan, drama, Ekin Koc, Ercan Kesal, Erkan Kolcak Kostendil, film festivals, Guliz Sirinyan, Hazar Erguclu, movies, reviews, Selen Kurtaran, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, The Things You Kill, Turkey
January 3, 2026
by Carla Hay
Directed by Alireza Khatami
Turkish with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed city in Turkey, the dramatic film “The Things You Kill” features a predominantly an all-Turkish cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: A part-time college professor suspects that his father killed his mother and conspires with his recently hired gardener to get revenge on the father.
Culture Audience: “The Things You Kill” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of unusual dramas about families where things are not always what they seem to be.
“The Things You Kill” is a twist-filled psychological drama about the harmful effects of domestic violence on a family. The movie has a character switch that will confuse many viewers, but it’s a dark story about denial and leading a double life. “The Things You Kill” does not offer easy answers and has an ending that is left open to interpretation.
Written and directed by Alireza Khatami, “The Things You Kill” had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic. “The Things You Kill” is Canada’s official selection for Best International Feature Film for the 2026 Academy Awards, but the movie did not make the shortlist to be nominated in this category. “The Things You Kill” takes place in an unnamed city in Turkey, where the movie was filmed on location.
The movie begins by showing two spouses talking in their home, located in an apartment building. Ali Özdilek (played by Ekin Koç) listens as his wife Hazar (played by Hazar Ergüçlü) tells Ali about a dream that she had the night before. in the dream, Ali’s father Hamit (played by Ercan Kesal) knocked on the door and said, “I’m exhausted.” Hamit then laid down on the floor and rested against a wall. This dream will have significance later in the story.
Ali lived in the United States for 14 years and has recently moved back to his native Turkey. He has been going through some stresses in his personal life and in his career. Hazar and Ali have been trying to have a child, but she hasn’t gotten pregnant. What Ali hasn’t told her is that he has a low sperm count, according to the results of a medical test that he recently took. Ali doesn’t know how to tell this news to Hazar, who is worried that she’s the one who might be infertile.
Meanwhile, Ali is also feeling insecure about his current job. He’s a part-time professor at a local university, where he works in the English department. He finds out that his class won’t be offered in the next semester, and it’s very likely that he will be laid off from his job. He is also reluctant to tell Hazar this information. Hazar works as a livestock veterinarian.
An early scene in the movie shows Ali is very devoted to his disabled mother Sakine (played by Güliz Sirinyan), who has curved feet and uses a walker. Ali goes over to his parents’ house to fix her toilet, but he is unable to complete the task because the pipes are broken. He tells Sakine that the toilet’s plumbing needs a complete overhaul and that his sister Nesrin (played by Selen Kurtaran) can probably fix the toilet the next day.
During the time that Ali was trying to fix the toilet, he went in the house’s backyard to look in the septic tank. Inside the tank, he found a gun stuffed in the back. Ali put the gun back where he found. And that’s the moment you know it won’t be the last time the gun is seen in movie.
When Ali goes to his home, he tells Hazar that he’s thinking of having his mother move in with them. Hazar is skeptical and asks if Hamit would allow it. Hazar also wonders out loud if Sakine would be comfortable in living in the building because it doesn’t have an elevator and because Sakine might miss having a garden.
“She likes taking care of her plants,” Hazar says. Ali says, “We’ll talk to Aunt Melahat about it and see.” Hazar replies, “Fine by me.” Melahat (played by Aysen Sümercan) is Hamit’s sister who appears much later in the story.
Sadly, the decision on where Sakine will live becomes irrelevant because not long afterward, Ali finds out that Sakine has died in her home. The last person to see her alive was Hamit, her husband of 50 years. Hamit says that Sakine died from falling down and hitting her head.
However, Hamit didn’t tell anyone for hours that Sakine was dead. Ali, Nesrin and some other family members gather at the house and have various emotional reactions to Sakine’s death. Ali is sad but mostly angry that Hamit waited so long to tell the other family members about Sakine’s death.
Ali berates Hamit, who then verbally lashes out at Ali for not calling or visiting Hamit and Sakine while Ali was living in the United States. Eventually the argument ends, but the resentment lingers. Ali notices that Hamit’s hand is bandaged, but Ali doesn’t ask Hamit why Hamit’s hand is bandaged.
What is eventually revealed in the story, but it’s not spoiler information, is Hamit had a history of physically abusing Sakine. Hamit told the family that he found Sakine dead, with her body lying face down on the floor of their kitchen. The medical examiner report reveals that she died from an extradural hemorrhage (a severe concussion) from a blow to the back of her head.
Ali becomes more suspicious that Hamit caused Sakine’s death when Ali and Nesrin have a private conversation at Sakine’s grave. In this conversation, Nesrin (who has an outspoken personality) tells Ali that she knew that Hamit would often keep Sakine locked up in the house. Ali begins to feel even more anger toward Hamit, who denies having anything to do with Sakine’s death.
Around this time, Ali becomes fixated on developing a barren patch of the family’s land in a remote area and turning it into a garden. He hires a man named Reza (played by Erkan Kolçak Köstendil) to be the gardener for this task. During their first meeting, Ali develops a friendly rapport with Reza and finds out that Reza is going through a rough period in his life and is kind of desperate for money.
Ali eventually confides in Reza about how Ali thinks that his father Hamit killed his mother Sakine. It isn’t long before a plan is hatched to get revenge on Hamit. The rest of “The Things You Kill” shows what happens when that plan is set into motion.
The movie’s big surprise happens about halfway through the story. It’s an unexpected turn that is intended to throw viewers off-balance about what is really happening. But as time goes on, “The Things You Kill” becomes a story that plays with the concept of perception versus reality. (Hint: “The Things You Kill” has been compared to filmmaker David Lynch’s 1997 mystery drama “Lost Highway.”)
The direction of “The Things You Kill” maintains suspense for most of the film. However, some scenes are a bit disjointed and rambling. The acting performances are impressive, particularly with Koç and Köstendi, whose relationship is at the core of the movie’s story. Viewers who are open to a taking a disturbing look into someone’s psyche will appreciate this artistically made film, even if the ending might be divisive to some people.
Cineverse released “The Things You Kill” in New York City on November 14, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on November 21, 2025.